DOS MAME/ArcadeOS/AdvanceMENU help please

[gavin.prior]

Hi everyone.
I've been out of the scene for a while and have recently started working again on my MAME driving machine. Not far of finishing now but I am having a nightmare configuring DOS software for it. Firstly, are the more recent versions of MAME for Windows only or will they still work in pure DOS mode?
Secondly, I can get neither ArcadeOS or AdvanceMENU to work properly. ArcadeOS takes ages to load a game then comes up with "unable to allocate memory for region 138 Unable to initialise machine emulation". AdvanceMENU refuses to 'see' the mame/dmame.exe file.

I am using MAME .90 (told you I've been away for a while  ) and ArcadeOS 2.52/AdvanceMENU 2.4.13

Cheers,
Gav.

[NOP]

Does MAME run any games w/o arcadeOS launching them?  I'm just trying to figure out if your memory problem is because of the front end, or is it something in MAME itself.  I don't recall which MAME version I had on my machine, but I successfully ran arcadeos and dos mame for years on my machine.  I'd be happy to send you my setup if you want it.

I then upgraded to U360's and switched to windows (tiny XP) and started using Mala.  I haven't looked back since.

Can't believe I'm saying this (I love dos!) but do you really need to use DOS on your machine?  Considering that you're essentially stuck in your own timezone with old versions of software and front ends, and only us old geezers will able to offer much help (if we can remember!), you might want to seriously consider an O/S upgrade.  sigh.  I feel dirty now.

-jeff!

[gavin.prior]

I have DOS MAME and ArcadeOS on my other machine which works fine. I tried to avoid having a GUI based OS if I can avoid it. I like it to boot directly into the front and and the games be selectable without having to use a keyboard. Also, the HD is only 10gig so as small an OS as possible is required. Having said that, I only intend to have driving ROMS on this one. What OS/frontend combination would you recommend, bearing in mind my requirements mentioned above?

I'm using Win98 on this one and the 'unable to allocate...' error I was getting by running arcadeOS in a DOS shell. In pure DOS, it just hangs. This is before I even start on the headache of getting sound.

Gav.

[gavin.prior]

Update:
The machine I am using only has 64MB. Is this too little? Perhaps this is why I am getting the 'unable to allocate......' error?

Gav.

[NOP]

64mb might be a little short, yeah.  try more RAM if you've got it, but I'd think you wouldn't have such issues with smaller games.  Whenever I had weird problems, I always started out with something like pacman,which I knew was always a working ROM in all versions of MAME and then went from there.  (I realize it's tough to play pacman on a driving machine!  )


I was going to suggest tiny XP (installs in like 300mb) and boots up in a couple seconds.  Couple it with Mala and you can do everything without a keyboard (I don't have one on my machine either)  You can also do a pretty good job of hiding windows from the user by changing a few windows registry things.  There's a wiki entry for that.

I am also using a 10 gig hard drive (former xbox drive) for my machine.  Every ROM my machine can play easily fits.  Of course switching to XP might mean a faster machine, which you probably don't want to do?

-jeff!

[gonzo90017]

What processor does your machine have gavin.prior?

[gavin.prior]

Thanks for the tips guys.
Might go down the TinyXp route as long as it doesn't impede performance of the emulator.

All the hardware is relatively old (from my other non-driving cab) Pentium II 266mmx, 128mb (found some extra memory!) and an ISA SB16.

Gav.

[NOP]

Ouch. On second thought, a 266MHz CPU is going to be ugly for XP.  I've got a P4.  Perhaps DOS is your best bet until you can upgrade the hardware. 

If that extra memory does the trick, then stick with it. 

[gonzo90017]

It's going to be a little bet of a stretch but try running and older version of mame. 37b16 perhaps. The roms are going to be a problem but you can google for gp32 or gp2x mame roms since those are from mame 0.34 and some others from the 0.34-37b16.

[gavin.prior]

Thanks again for the ideas guys! Things got much better with 128mb rather than 64.
Might have a scratch around the house to see if I can get another 128mb. Got problems configuring the SB16 ISA card now. Will sort it (eventually  )
Yeah, the processor isn't the best, but as long as it runs the games (mainly Outrun!  ) ok I will be happy.

Gav.

[Ummon]

I have a PII 233 with only 96mb of memory in it running win98se and it will handle, I think, .55 or even .69 with hardware stretch. Anything up to around Indiana Jones and Outrun if I remember right. (What helps make it go here is it has a 32mb Riva TNT agp card.) Which brings me to wonder, what display options are you thinking of using? What kind of monitor?

[gonzo90017]

Are you using a frontend?

[Jakobud]

The problems you are going to face trying to run a DOS machine is going to far out-weigh any 'performance' issues you're going to have with WinXP or TinyXP.  These days, Mame is compiled with Windows in mind.  Might as well use it.

[gavin.prior]

Basically all the hardware is what I pulled out of my other non-driving mame machine:
PII 266, 64mb (now 128mb) ram
Matrox Mystique 4mb
Soundblaster 16 ISA
Mame .100 (was using .53 which was much faster?)
ArcadeOS 2.52

All this worked fine in the other machine, I just can't get sound to work now.
When I run CTCM, it says I have a Vibra16 and 'sucessfully' sets it to A220, I5,D1,H3 but when I run diagnose and let it autodetect the address, interrupts etc it comes out as A220,I5,D1,H3. I can hear 8bit & 16bit sounds and OPL music within the diagnose utility.
Any suggestions for the autoexec.bat & config.sys files?

Jakobud,
I appreciate what you're saying fella, but I don't really want to have to install a hefty OS and have to wait for that to boot etc when all I want to do is play (old) arcade games.
Also, bear in mind the spec of the machine. The idea (partially) is to recycle the old hardware rather than go out and buy all new bits. Also, I need something that is 'cab friendly'.
Another though - what about Linux? <shivers>

Gav.

[Ummon]

Are you using a frontend?

No. That computer is sitting on the bottom of the pile. I just wanted to get it generally functional. If I did use an fe, I'd probably use AdvanceMENU, or maybe a simple Mala set-up.

Still don't know what monitor or display options you're using, gavin. Given the hardware and video card, I'd suggest AdvanceMAME. And even with DOS, that hardware needs something much earlier than Mame .100 .

[vinniet]

Have you tried to use AdvanceCD which is made by the the person that makes AdvanceMenu?  Its a all-in-one solution where you put your roms, snaps, etc and it builds a CD.  The OS which is Linux in on the CD with the menu, mame, and mess.  It uses very little RAM and CPU because its a very simple OS.

I had a PII 300 with 128 megs RAM and it ran most simple games like pacman, tempest, etc.   

[Encryptor]

gavin

It sounds like the sound card issue might be your trouble. I had issues when I was trying to run DOS in my first configuration and it turned out to be the sound card drivers were not loading properly.

Encryptor

[gavin.prior]

Thanks for all the help guys and sorry for being quiet - I've been away for a week or so.

I've made a bit of a compromise: I've got the system to boot into Win98 and have got it to load ArcadeOS automatically. I am now using dmamepp v.100 and things have improved somewhat. Sound works for a start. 

Managed to find some more memory so will have 256 or maybe 512 if the board will take it. Also have a faster processor so the frameskips will be less and action smoother I hope!

Gav.

Ps, I'm using a 21" SVGA monitor as the display.

[ark_ader]

Basically all the hardware is what I pulled out of my other non-driving mame machine:
PII 266, 64mb (now 128mb) ram
Matrox Mystique 4mb
Soundblaster 16 ISA
Mame .100 (was using .53 which was much faster?)
ArcadeOS 2.52

All this worked fine in the other machine, I just can't get sound to work now.
When I run CTCM, it says I have a Vibra16 and 'sucessfully' sets it to A220, I5,D1,H3 but when I run diagnose and let it autodetect the address, interrupts etc it comes out as A220,I5,D1,H3. I can hear 8bit & 16bit sounds and OPL music within the diagnose utility.
Any suggestions for the autoexec.bat & config.sys files?

Jakobud,
I appreciate what you're saying fella, but I don't really want to have to install a hefty OS and have to wait for that to boot etc when all I want to do is play (old) arcade games.
Also, bear in mind the spec of the machine. The idea (partially) is to recycle the old hardware rather than go out and buy all new bits. Also, I need something that is 'cab friendly'.
Another though - what about Linux? <shivers>

Gav.

Its plenty for the basic driving games.

Forget Tiny XP it won't help you or Linux.  Stick with DOS.  The 64MB is plenty.

What driving games?  Can you hook up a PSX to your driving rig too?

You will find that Windows 95/98 is resource hungry. 

Better to run native.  What kind of issues are you getting running the games you wanted?

Is it speed?  Or configuration?

I had an old P2 233 rig and it played most of my games rather quickly on version .36. with 16mb!!!

[chivalri]

I have been playing around with older versions of Mame to try and find ways to be able to utilize some older equipment for a cabinet.  I also ran into the same issue where ArcadeOS would not generate a play list when using the last official Dos build.

I ended up getting it to work.  The issue is that Mame made a change at about .79 that changed the way the list information is generated.  ArcadeOS 1.52 uses the new method and therefore requires a version of Mame that is after this change.  ArcadeOS 1.42 still uses the old method and works fine with the Dos build.

I have a 333 Pentium II with 32 mb memory running FreeDos and using the dos version with Arcade OS 1.42 and everything is working as expected.  In fact, this machine is working much better than the mame machine a friend setup using a Dell Pentium 4 system and XP (his system has issues due to 256mb memory and using the integrated video card)

[gonzo90017]

What's your fps on games like double dragon and Capcom games?

[chivalri]

I will check Double Dragon later as I have not played that in years.

On SF2, I get 47fps with that setup using 640x480 res.